2010 a Record Year for the Bellingham Public Library

Bellingham library use at all-time high despite budget cuts. (Bellingham Herald, 4/20/2011)

Excerpt:     Library checkouts once again hit a new high last year, despite budget cuts for the Bellingham Public Library that led to fewer staff, shorter hours and a reduction of new materials such as books, CDs and DVDs.

The number of items that library-goers checked out increased to a little over 1.6 million in 2010, according to an annual report that was released recently.

That's a new record, but it's a bump of just a little over 1 percent - compared to a 10 percent jump in each of the two previous years.

While the circulation numbers were up slightly last year, the number of visitors who came to the library, which has three branches, dropped by some 7 percent to 858,308.

"I think this reflects a decrease in access for the public to our libraries because of the number of hours that we've cut, primarily," said Pam Kiesner, director for Bellingham Public Library.

"People just don't have the same kind of convenience they had in the past. We're hearing about it," she added.